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Zoonosis & Human Health

Swine Influenza or swine flu is a contagious respiratory disease of pigs, caused by a type A influenza virus. Type A influenza viruses can affect a range of other animals and humans. Like all influenza viruses, swine flu viruses change or mutate constantly. Swine flu is commonly seen in North America, South America, Asia, and Europe.

Tapeworms are flat, segmented intestinal parasites of the cat and dog. The tapeworm uses its hook-like mouthparts for anchoring to the wall of the small intestine. As the adult tapeworm matures, individual segments called proglottids break off from the main body of the tapeworm and pass in the cat's feces. When segments of the tapeworm break off and pass into the cat's stool, they can be seen crawling on the surface of the feces.

Although ticks are commonly thought of as insects, they are actually arachnids similar to scorpions, spiders and mites. All ticks have four pairs of legs (eight legs in total) as adults and have no antennae.

The Red-eared Slider (Trachemys scripta elegans) is probably the most popular pet aquatic turtle. They are semi-aquatic turtles (they like to leave the water to bask in the sun), native to the warmer southern United States.

When a cat bites, its sharp canine teeth easily puncture the skin, leaving small, but deep, wounds in the skin. These punctures rapidly seal over, trapping bacteria from the cat's mouth under the skin of the victim, where they can readily multiply.